Grunt
It might seem paradoxical to have a general infantry trooper in a special missions force, but GRUNT is no ordinary soldier. Even in an army of thousands, General Hawk took notice and saw in GRUNT the consummate soldier. GRUNT was always the backbone of every unit to which he was assigned and exceeded expectation in countless operations. This type of outstanding service record led to GRUNT being chosen as one of the original members during the formation of the GI Joe team. Years later when it seemed Cobra was finally on the ropes, he left the service to pursue a degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and tried his hand at life in the mundane business world. But when it became clear the evil menace was stronger than ever, he reenlisted to get back to doing what he does best – pounding Cobra troops into submission. GRUNT believes that constant training and education is the key to staying one step ahead of the enemy. To that end he re-qualifies every two years in everything from night fighting to cold weather training. His promotion to an officer seems even more amusing: the idea of being Lieutenant Grunt never ceases to make him laugh, and he still doesn’t take himself too seriously. History Canonical/Pre-MUX/Theme History: Born Robert W. Graves in Columbus, Ohio, Grunt's code-name comes from the old army nickname for regular infantry soldiers, "grunts." Grunt's job is the most basic part of the Army, the infantry. Without a specialized talent, Grunt had to be quite a soldier to qualify for the G.I. Joe team. He graduated Advanced Infantry Training school in the top ten of his class. Soon afterward, Grunt became one of the original 13 members. He was part of many of the Joes' major missions including the rescue of Dr. Adele Burkhart. Grunt quite possibly saved the country from annihilation when he helped Zap disarm a nuclear bomb set to detonate by Commander Vance Wingfield, the leader of a local para-military group funded by Cobra. Hawk and Grunt infiltrated the team and exposed Wingfield's plan to trigger World War III. Grunt was involved in many other important operations, as well. He was also one of the Joes assigned to guard Cobra Commander after his capture. All of the Joes were taken by surprise when the Cobra ninja, Storm Shadow, rescued the Commander. He was involved in many other important operations, as well, including the rescue of several Joes trapped in Sierra Gordo. After the re-dedication of G.I. Joe headquarters, aka "The Pit", Grunt and many of the other original Joes were taken off active duty. Even so, Grunt continued to occasionally participate in missions with the team. He was part of the security team during the Joes' invasion of the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield. Soon after that mission, Grunt retired from Army life and was accepted into Georgia Tech where he studied to be an engineer. Grunt at first had trouble adjusting to civilian life and missed the camaraderie of the Joe team. He had an easier time of things when he met Lola one morning while jogging through the campus. When he saw Stalker, Snow Job and Quick Kick on the television news, arrested and thrown into a Borovian gulag, Grunt called Joe headquarters and offered to help in the rescue since he was now not an official part of the Army. He was surprised when Roadblock told him there would be no official rescue mission. Later, the Joe team was on the losing side of the Cobra Island civil war. A group of corrupt generals in the Pentagon denied having any knowledge of the debacle. When many members of the team were wrongfully taken into custody, several other Joes went underground. Roadblock, remembering Grunt's offer of help months earlier, called Grunt and asked for his help. They and the other Joes who had escaped organized a mission to rescue Hawk and General Hollingsworth when they were arrested for acting without orders and entering the civil war. During the rescue, Hawk and Hollingsworth were cleared of all charges and the corrupt generals responsible were exposed. After getting his degree from Georgia Tech, Grunt struggled to find a job. He met up with the Joe team again in New York when Mutt and Spirit were cleared of charges after being wrongfully imprisoned. Some of the Joes told Grunt he should rejoin the team. They could use good soldiers like him. But Duke told Grunt to keep looking for work as an engineer. "Take it from an old soldier," Duke told him. "It's better to build things than tear them down." Grunt heeded Duke's advice and eventually did find work as an engineer. Years later, however, Grunt returned to the Army, believing his engineering skills could be put to good use there. MUX History: After the G.I. Joe team's reinstatement in 1997, Grunt was called back to the team, where he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. Grunt is a reserve member of G.I. Joe. In 1998, Grunt and Lola Married. 2010: Grunt is a last minute addition to Scarlett's team sent to the SG World. In 2011, Grunt was called in and assigned to the strike force targeting the Decepticons' Antarctic weapons platform. In 2012, Grunt was sent by Scarlett to the El-Hassim Military Base in Iraq, to assist in a training program for the Kurdish Rebels operating in Al-Alawi. There he was placed in charge of Infantry Training. In 2015 he was transferred from Iraq to Sierro Gordo, where he helped develop wind and solar energy. In April of that year he was kidnapped by masked terrorists with links to Cobra. After he escaped, he continued to work in Sierra Gordo until he returned to the US to help design and train in the G.I. Joe Chimera. In 2016 he was assigned to Major Jane's new R&D group in the new Pit III. In 2017, he was re-assigned to Pit I in Fort Wadsworth. OOC Notes Ever wonder who was on the left corner of almost every Marvel issue of G.I. Joe? Grunt's your man. He only missed a couple issues, and those only because they were special, and they put Snake-Eyes there. Logs Players Grunt is available for application. Gallery GRUNT1.jpg Grunt2.jpg grunt3.gif grunt4.jpg grunt5.jpg grunt6.jpg grunt7.jpg grunt8.jpg Grunt-1.jpg Preferred Vehicles * Chimera (2015) References * Second lieutenant @ Wikipedia * Army Enlisted Job Descriptions and Qualification Factors Category:Active Category:available Category:Characters Category:Cold Weather operatives Category:GI_Joe_engineers Category:GI Joe R&D Category:Infantry Category:GI Joe Category:FCs Category:GI Joe Infantry Category:Humans Category:Night Force Category:US Army